This blog shares the research experiences and findings conducted by University of North Carolina Wilmington Chemistry Department members Dr. Brooks Avery, Dr. Pam Seaton, Bonnie Monteleone, and UNCW students. Earlier posts share open-ocean sampling and adventures in the North and South Atlantic, the South Pacific and the North Pacific Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Posts written by Bonnie Monteleone,Jennifer O'Keefe, and Danielle Richardet.

Solutions

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Two weeks ago I had an email conversation with 5Gyres' Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummings along with Ron Ritter from Pangaea Explorations and its official. I will be flying to Rio De Janeiro on November 4th, climbing aboard the Panaea Explorations RV Sea Dragon and sailing to Cape Town, Africa. We will be sampling the center of the South Atlantic gyre while out at sea for nearly a month.

Here's an opportunity for you to vertually ride along in the warm spring air while it turns colder in the Northern hemisphere. I'll be sending photos and possibly short videos of our findings as well as how 14 of us live on a 72 foot ship. But I could use help from my friends. My share of the expenses is $7000. If you want to learn more and perhap consider making a small donation to our research, check out http://www.theplasticocean.org/. You'll find lots of pictures and videos from my last voyages out into the N. Atlantic and N. Pacific.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Each year, hundreds of thousands of volunteers around the globe clean their local waterways during the International Coastal Cleanup. The volunteers fill out datacards, which creates a really interesting and useful database of information.

This is the 25th anniversary of the ICC, and it's been held in North Carolina since 1987. North Carolina was the first state in the nation to begin a statewide cleanup of waterways, which is now called Big Sweep.

Please join this global event wherever you are. If you can't find an event listed near you, contact local agencies as their events may not be posted on the ICC website. If there isn't an event just grab your family and friends and start something. Learn more about the ICC here or Big Sweep here.

In New Hanover County, we'll hold Big Sweep on September 25 at 9am at Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Greenfield Lake. The flyer and details are here.